The gross budget estimates under revenue for the year 2019-20 is Rs 2,72,705.68 crore, recording an increase of Rs 22,854.67 crore over the revised estimates for 2018-19.

Goyal left passenger fares and freight rates unchanged ahead of general elections this year.

The government has sharply accelerated the development of highways, ports and waterways, and made the Indian Railways much safer and financially more efficient, interim finance minister Piyush Goyal told Parliament on Friday.

Goyal made the highest ever capital-expenditure allocation of Rs 1.58 lakh crore for the railways in the interim budget, while leaving passenger fares and freight rates unchanged ahead of general elections this year.

India is building roads at 27 kms a day, the minister said, calling it the fastest pace anywhere in the world.

He said the country had made rapid progress in helping ordinary citizens get access to air travel. There are more than 100 operational airports, which have helped increase air traffic and create jobs, he added.

India’s long coastline is also being used to create jobs and expand shipping and ports under the Sagar Mala project. “Our efforts in the Sagar Mala programme will be scaled up and we will develop other inland waterways faster,” he said.

Goyal, who is also the minister for railways and coal, said the country’s rail transportation was getting better, safer and more efficient.

The operating ratio of the railways is expected to improve from 98.4% in 2017-18 to 96.2% in 2018-19 and to 95% in 2019-20, he said. The operating ratio — a measure of expenditure against revenue — is an important parameter to gauge the health of railway finances.

Terming the year as the safest in railways’ history, Goyal said the government had made steep progress in eliminating unmanned level crossings, which have been a major cause of accidents. “All unmanned level crossings on the broad-gauge network have been completely eliminated,” he said.

The minister said the railways was set to offer passengers a world-class experience with the introduction of an indigenously developed semihigh-speed train, Vande Bharat Express.

“Passenger will get the world-class experience with speed, service and safety,” he said, adding that this major leap in locally developed technology would give an impetus to the Make in India programme and create jobs.

The capital support from the budget for the railways is proposed to be Rs 64,587 crore in 2019-20. The gross budget estimates under revenue for the year 2019-20 is Rs 2,72,705.68 crore, recording an increase of Rs 22,854.67 crore over the revised estimates for 2018-19.

He allocated Rs 7,255 crore for construction of new lines, Rs 2,200 crore for gauge conversion, Rs 700 crore for doubling of tracks, Rs 6,114.82 crore for rollingstock and Rs 1,750 crore for signalling and telecom.

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